Page 20 of The Cowboy's Temporary Solution

"I woke up buck nekked on the floor, Seri. We were both drinking, you sure...?"

She holds a hand up to stop me.

"I'm sure. Nothing happened."

She does not sound pleased about that and, to be honest, I'm a might disappointed myself. Even if I am relieved to know I didn't miss anything.

"Damn shame about that," I mutter, giving her my best shit-eatin' grin. "I'd be happy to make it up to you now that we're both sober."

"I think it's for the best this way, Ranger." Serenity opens the door and heads out toward the front of the house, rolling her suitcase faster than I can catch up and take it from her.

"Could you tell your mom and brothers I said goodbye?" Serenity asks, turning back to face me as she makes her way down the front walk toward Joe's taxi waiting on her in the circle drive out front. "I don't have time to round everyone up for one last hug but I really enjoyed meeting your family and, thank you-- for introducing me around and... stuff."

Joe gets out of the cab and puts Seri's things in the back of the little minivan he uses to haul people to and from where ever they're willing to pay him to go in the valley.

Serenity rushes up to me and pulls me into a quick hug; nothing like the intimate embraces we were sharing last night and not a damn bit like the way I want touches between us to be.

I'm so confused by the way she's actin', I just stand there like a stunned ox while she climbs into the back of Joe's cab and shuts the door between us.

"I hope things work out for you and Bern." Seri's voice comes out tiny through the window that she rolls down as the cab's tires start rolling."

Joe doesn't waste time pullin' out of the drive, even when I snap out of my stupor and chase down the car, waving at him like a maniac to hold up and wait.

Bern and me? Work out? What the mother of all hell is she talking about?

A sick feeling courses through my gut, thinking about how far today's ending from where we left off last night, and the only thing between those two points has been--

"Ma!"

Turning on my heel, I race back to the house.

"Mom!"

I find my chief suspect nonchalantly folding laundry out in the utility room.

"Oh! Hi, honey." Mom smiles up at me as I stalk into the small room, not even pausing her methodical motions as she transforms a heap of towels into a neat stack. "I had such a nice time with Serenity today. Have you taken her up to--"

"Ma, what the hell did you tell her about Bernadine and me?"

Mom's eyes widen; I can't recall ever speaking to her in such a rough tone before and the shocked look on her face has me feeling bad for it now.

"I-- uh," I watch Ma's throat work in a hard swallow, which tells me she's caught on to the fact that whatever she told Seri has caused trouble for me. "I was just tellin' her about how hard you crushed on Bernie growing up is all. How you two used to run around together till she up and dumped you for Wyatt."

Between clenched jaws, I glare down at the woman who raised me reminding myself that she loves me. She's been through hell over the last few years and her meddlin' is done outof love; but damned if it's not the reason I've been staying away all these years.

Ma puts the laundry aside, dropping a towel in mid-fold so it falls on the counter in front of her in a heap. With her fists planted on her hips she glares right back at me and gives me the look that used to send my brothers and me scurrying to get chores and homework done when she'd had enough of our horsin' around.

"Don't give me that look Ranger O'Leary, that sweet thing is head over heels for you and she deserves to know if there's some reason she shouldn't be looking to a future with you. I thought you'd have already mentioned your history with Bernie to the girl, but apparently Bernie and I weren't the only ones you blindsided showing up with a woman on your arm without mentioning a word of being involved with someone.

"The fact that you didn't tell her about Bernadine tells me I was smart to warn Seri off of getting her hopes up about the two of you. You'd have broken that girl's heart when you left her."

"Thereisno history between me and Bern, Mom."

I've been trying to convince her-- and half of Slow River Valley-- for years, but the truth of the matter has always been that yes, Bernie and I came up together and we were close as friends even after she fell for Wyatt Patterson. It was that bullshit she pulled when her marriage was bustin' apart that crossed the line and sent me packing.

"We werefriends. Bernie's like a sister, I never saw her any other way."

"Well, I know you stayed closed even when she was running with the Patterson boy." Ma resumes her folding and, for lack of anything better to do with myself, I grab a towel off the pile and start helping.

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